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How To Make Your Own Cardboard Standup

MELISSA SALNAVE / BRANCH MANAGER

Pearland Westside Branch Library

Type of Library Best Suited for: Any

Cost Estimate: $5–$50 each, depending on what supplies you already have

Makerspace Necessary? No

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Learn how to easily (and inexpensively!) create your own cardboard standup figures. These can either be used by the library for signage and marketing purposes, or you can teach patrons to create their own.

OVERVIEW

I used to run a small public library with a limited budget, so I had to get creative when it came to decorations. I decided to start making my own standups as a way to advertise various programs at the library. You can make these standups any size you’d like, so they can be used for a variety of different purposes. And since it uses basic supplies and a color printer, you don’t need a makerspace to create them. You can run workshops to teach your patrons how to create standups of themselves, their pets, or whatever else they’d like.

MATERIALS LIST

NECESSARY EQUIPMENT

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

  1. 1. Find an image. You can take your own photos or find one online. The higher the resolution of the photo, the better it will look when enlarged. If the image has a background that you don’t like, use a photo-editing software program to clean it up. I have computers with Photoshop on them, but you can also use Microsoft Paint; it’s just a bit more difficult and time-consuming.
  2. 2. Figure out what size you want your final standup figure to be. The site below does a fairly good job of converting pixels to inches and inches to pixels: http://​auctionrepair.com/​pixels.html.
  3. 3. Download Smilla Enlarger, http://​sourceforge.net/​projects/​imageenlarger/.
  4. 4. Drag and drop your image into Smilla Enlarger.
  5. 5. Then set your output height. There are other options, but height generally gives the best results. The number is in pixels. Use the site from step 2 to figure out how many pixels will give you the height you desire.
  6. 6. Pick a name for your enlarged photo and choose where you would like it to be saved.
  7. 7. Click Enlarge & Save to save the photo.

Now you are ready to print your enlarged photo. There are several different businesses, both online and brick-and-mortar, which have the ability to print large images on a large sheet of paper. Most libraries don’t have that ability, so you will have to print your photos across multiple sheets of paper.

FIGURE 4.1

Smilla enlarger

  1. 8. Open up your enlarged image in Microsoft Paint. Then go to File > Print > Page setup.
  2. 9. On the Page Setup screen, set your margins all to 0. It will then default to the smallest number possible. Under Scaling, select Adjust to 100% normal size. It will then show you how many pages the picture will print across.
  3. 10. Hit OK and then print your picture.
  4. 11. Now you will have to trim all the pages to remove the white borders. I used a quilting ruler and a rotary cutter, but any straightedge and blade should work.

Now it’s time to mount the papers onto a board. I used foam core board. It’s easy to find and inexpensive. You can use cardboard, but it’s not as stiff and doesn’t work as well for larger standup figures.

  1. 12. I recommend laying out all the pieces of paper on the foam core first. That way you can plan how many pieces of foam core you need and see what type of layout will work the best.
  2. 13. If you need more than one piece of foam core board, attach the pieces together with duct tape before you start gluing the paper to them.
  3. 14. Now you’re ready to start putting the papers onto the board. Start by spraying the foam core with a spray-on adhesive. I’ve found that 3M Multipurpose Spray Adhesive works the best.
  4. 15. Once you’ve sprayed the adhesive, start laying down the papers one row at a time. Most spray adhesives are tacky, so you have the ability to adjust the papers for a short amount of time.
  5. 16. Once all the papers are glued down, you need to seal the seams. Using a foam brush, cover all the seams with Mod Podge. I used the one that was just for paper and it has a matte finish.
  6. 17. Once the seams have dried, trim the edges of your project.

The final part of this process is putting a stand on the character. If you just want a standup figure to attach to a wall or the end of a bookcase, you can ignore these last steps.

  1. 18. Cut a piece of cardboard or foam core board that is about three-fourths of the height of your standup character and about 4 inches wide.
  2. 19. On the bottom cut about a 5-degree angle. This will cause the standup to lean very slightly backwards. If you want it to lean more, cut a steeper angle.
  3. 20. Take self-adhesive Velcro and attach one strip to the middle of the cardboard standup and the other strip to the edge of the stand piece. You want the Velcro to be even with the bottom of the standup.
  4. 21. Attach the stand piece to the back of your standup.

Congratulations! You have made your very own standup figure!

FIGURE 4.2

Final result

LEARNING OUTCOMES

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